I'm fine, but I had an interesting night at the emergency room last night. I ate my regular broccoli beef meal from Chinese Combo King, a local Chinese food restaurant near campus, and shortly afterwards I had an allergic reaction to something in the food. I have been eating at Chinese Combo King since I was a freshman at LSU and have had no issues with the ingredients of the food. However, last night, I noticed that the food tasted differently like it was cooked with a different spice than I was used to. At the time, I didn't think anything of the difference in taste. I just thought there was a different chef cooking the food last night that used a different recipe. It took about 10 minutes for me to notice that I had begun breaking out in hives. Prior to last night's incident, I had never really broken out in hives so it was a bit alarming to see it develop so rapidly. I received a professional opinion from a nurse from my healthcare provider that I should check in to the emergency room to get appropriate care for my condition.

Once I got to the emergency room, the visit lasted about 5 hours. They were pretty packed when I arrived. I am definitely thankful to have gone to the ER though. I'm feeling much better today. Sadly, I think that last night will be the last time I eat at Chinese Combo King. It's strange that after 21 years, I have discovered an unknown allergy that causes me to break out in hives. I will be getting tested by an allergist over the winter break to narrow down the root cause.

My recommendations for everyone is to always be aware of the foods that you eat. Sometimes we cannot know the ingredients in the food we eat or in my case, not even know you were allergic to something. I'm no medical doctor, but something that they recommended me was to take Benadryl and Zantac simultaneously to help reduce inflammation. Zantac acts as an antihistamine like Benadryl but works differently so they can be taken together. These can be purchased over the counter and will definitely help with immediate relief. If after you've taken these you aren't seeing any results, consult a professional opinion about your condition. I hope this helps anyone with a similar case in the future.